Mexicali Rose (song)

"Mexicali Rose" is a popular song composed by bandleader and pianist Jack Breckenridge Tenney in the early 1920s, when he and his seven piece orchestra played the hotels and clubs of the Calexico and Mexicali border. The song became a hit in the mid-1930s, thanks to Gene Autry and Bing Crosby, around the same time that Tenney became a lawyer and was elected to the California State Assembly, and later appointed to head of the California Senate Factfinding Subcommittee on Un-American Activities.

Composition

Born in St. Louis, Tenney arrived in Los Angeles as a boy of ten in 1908 with his parents .During World War I, he fought with the American Expeditionary Force in France. Upon his return, he married Leda Westrem, a 16 year-old stenographer, and they had a baby while living at 3764 South Main street, Los Angeles. Marital problems ensued when Tenney became a professional musician in 1919, formed the Majestic Orchestra and spent 1920 thru 1923 playing dance halls and hotels in Calexico and Mexicali. Leda filed for separation on the grounds of desertion and non-support in July 1920, and was awarded custody and support. Tragically, she was killed in an automobile accident in January 1921.

When bookings in the better Calexico places were full, the Majestic played less-desirable clubs in Mexicali. When the distraut widower was offered a steady job (now called residency) at the "Imperial Cabaret", Tenney accepted, and started writing his famous melody which he initially called “The Waltz,” then eventually "Mexicali Rose." People came to believe that the song had been named after one of the dance hall girls with a dubious reputation, who was the inspiration for the song. Her name was Rose Erskine. Jack Tenney always denied this assumption.

“There was an old lady who ran a boarding house in Brawley. Every 30 days when the railroad men were paid, she came to Mexicali. We´d play the waltz for her, and she´d sit around drinking and crying. She must have been 50 or 60 years old and weighed 200 pounds. I don´t know what her name was but Jack Hazelip, my saxophone player called her “Mexicali Rose.” I already had the tune and we started fiddling around with the words as a result of watching her cry.”

"Helen Stone, the singer, liked the song so much that she put up the money for the first publication. I gave her half interest, and put her name on the number as the writer of the lyrics. It was a fine investment as we are still deriving royalties." JBT

The song was first played by Jack Tenney and the Majestic Orchestra in 1922, with Helen Stone on vocals, but there is no evidence of a recording being made. After the song was published on March 10, 1923, it was recorded as an instrumental, "Rosa de Mexicali", by International Novelty Orchestra on September 6, 1923 in New York. It was issued for the Mexican market on Victor 77255 in March 1924, with the band under the name 'Orquesta Internacional'. It sold 13,936 copies. Lewis James also recorded it during September 1923 for Okeh records. But for Jack Tenney, there would be no more waltzes, as he turned his energies toward night law school. He moved back to Los Angeles in 1928. The 1929 sound film, ' Mexicali Rose', starring Barbara Stanwyck, came and went. He reportedly sold his interest in "Mexicali Rose" for two to three thousand dollars to M.M. Cole Company of Chicago.

In December 1932 Tenney was elected to the lucrative post of president of Local 47 of the American Federation of Musicians. In October 1935, he passed the California State Bar examination and became successful in practice. He went on to be elected to California State Assembly and Senate on multiple occasions.

Gene Autry version

This brought good fortune to the song at last, when Cole suggested that another client record it, late in 1935. Gene Autry, rising star of Hillbilly Radio and recently, Cowboy Westerns. His third career, recording artist, had yielded little until a re-release of 1931's "That Silver Haired Daddy of Mine", caught fire after Autry performed the song in two movies (the science-fiction/western 12-part serial ''The Phantom Empire'' in February and ''Tumbling Tumbleweeds'' in September). Discovering a formula that would lead to many future successes, the song his partner and business manager Jimmy Long had penned in 1930 sold a reported five million copies by decade's end.

Gene Autry recorded Mexicali Rose on at American Furniture Mart ARC Studios, 666 N Lake Shore Drive, 21st Floor, Chicago. Autry was still considered a hillbilly or folk artist, and his recordings were released on ARC discount labels, Melotone 6-05-59 and Perfect 6-05-59, in April 1936, and later that year on Conqueror 8629 and Vocalion 3097. The original ARC B-side, the self-penned, 'You're the Only Star in My Blue Heaven', was also popular in Hillbilly jukeboxes and radios in the mid-late 1930s. After the Columbia Broadcasting System, Inc. (CBS) purchased ARC and Gene's contract in December 1938. (soon renaming the company "Columbia Records"). 'Star' was re-recorded on at CBS Columbia Square Studio, located at KNX Radio, Sunset and Gower, Hollywood.(Autry and Bob Wills would record many of their great 1940s Okeh and Columbia hits at this location).

Both songs were successfully included in the 1939 film '' Mexicali Rose'' starring Gene Autry.

As with most of his early hits, he re-recorded it for Columbia Records on the 10" LP 'Gene Autry's Western Classics', released on . Amongst several obvious differences, the latter version runs six seconds shorter than the original. The 1947 version was released on Columbia 37185 and Columbia 20086.

Due to popular demand, The original recording was also re-released in 1940 on Okeh 03097, in 1946 on Columbia 37002, and in 1948 on Columbia 20028.

Bing Crosby version

The greatest commercial success came in 1938, due to airing and recording by Bing Crosby. One report said "Mexicali was around 10th among the best sellers and the recording was among the first four or five on the Decca sales list."

Between the 1923 publishing, and the mid-1930s revival of "Mexicali Rose", composer Jack Tenney and publisher W. A. Quincke of Los Angeles transferred their interests to M.M. Cole Company of Chicago. Bing Crosby recorded the song for Decca Records on July 11, 1938 and his version reached Joel Whitburn's number 3 spot in 1938. Crosby recorded the song again for his 1954 album '' Bing: A Musical Autobiography''.

Later versions 1938-present

The song has been performed by many artists, including The Lennon Sisters (1960) (''Sing Twelve Great Hits'', Dot Records DLP 3292),
Sammy Kaye (1939), Ambrose Orchestra (1939), Wayne King Orchestra (1946), Burl Ives (1961), , Teresa Brewer (1959), and Mills Brothers (1957)..

References

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1923 songs
1936 singles
1938 singles
Western music (North America)